Toy electric railway



Jan. 12 1926. 1,569,233.

H. E. MORTON TOY ELECTRIC RAILWAY Filed Feb. 19, 1925 Patented Jan. 12,-1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TOY ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

Application filed February 19, 1925. Serial No. 10,239.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY E. MORTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hyde Park, in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ToyElectric Railways; andI do hereby declare the. following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

The present invention relates to toy electric railways and moreparticularly to devices and methods for controlling the oper ationthereof.

Toy electric railway systems are at present commonly constructed tooperate upon the usual house-lighting alternating circuits, a toytransformer being used to give the proper reduced voltage. By means ofrheostats or other current regulating devices located at some distanceor convenient place in the electric circuit, the speed of the cars iscontrolled.

It is desirable in such toy railway systems, and this is the main objectof the present invention, that not only the speed but also the directionof travel of the cars or trains may be controlled from some distantpoint so that the operator, without manipulation of the cars andirrespective of their position on the track, may cause them to start orstop and go forward or backward at will.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a control of theabove type which may be applied to the present systems withoutmodification or alteration of the track construction and with onlyslight and inexpensive changes in or additions to the cars or motors.

Still another object is to provide a toy electric railway system thatmay be operated upon either alternating or direct current and with fullcontrol both as to direction and speed.

\V-ith these and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, thepresent invention consists in the devices and the methods hereinafterdescribed and more particularly defined in theclaims.

In the accompanying drawings which il lustrate what is now consideredthe preferred form of the present invention, Figure 1 showsdiagrammatically a motor car or locomotive and the control devices withthe wiring and various circuit connections indicated; Fig. 2 is anenlarged view of the movable contact block of the polarized switchcarried by the locomotive.

Briefy, in the construction shown in, the drawings, the locomotive isprovided with a series motor which has in the power circuit in shuntwith the motor-circuit a polarized switch for reversing the armatureleads only. Besides the alternating power for driving the motor currentthere is a direct current supply from a small battery for actuating thepolarized reversing switch through the power circuit connections. Acombined reversing switch for the direct current and rheostat for thealternating current is also provided together with a supplementaryswitch to adapt the apparatus for use with either alternating or directpower current.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, these show the traction rails 2and 4, a con ductor or third rail 6, and a locomotive indicated bywheels 8 and axles 10. The locomotive carries a motor 12, which is ofthe usual series construction to permit operation on alternating ordirect current. Also carried on the locomotive is a polarized switchindicated generally at 14, by which the relative connections between thearmature and field of the motor may be reversed to permit the running ofthe motor in either direction. The motor is mechanically connected toone of the axles of the locomotive in any usual or preferred manner. The

power circuit connections to the motor lead from a contact 16 engagingwith the rail 6 through the wire 17 to the field coil 18 of the motor,thence to a wire 20 through switch 14 to the armature of the motor, andthence, as will presently be described in detail, back through switch 14again and through wire 22 to the axle 10 of the locomotive.

The polarized switch 1 comprises a permanent horseshoe magnet 2-1,having a pivoted armature 26 which is adapted to be energized by thedirect current to swing the armature from the position illustrated inthe drawing to a position with the armature pole opposite the other poleof the magnet. For this purpose the armature has a winding which inorder to reduce resistance is in the form of a double coil winding 28,the two coils being connected together at the center of the armature,and connected by a wire to the lead wire 22, the opposite ends of thecoils being connected through a wire 32 with the lead wire 17 from thecontact member 16 of the locomotive. It "will thus be seen that thearmature is connected directly in the power circuit between the rails 4and 6 of the track and in shunt with the motor.

The contacts on the switch 14 for reversing the motor armatureconnections are as follows. Pivoted on the same center as the switcharmature 26 is a contact block 34 \(see Fig. 2) which has a singlecontact 36 and a bridge contact 38 cooperating with the stationarycontacts 40, 42, 44 and 46,

' arranged adjacent the curved middle portion of the horseshoe magnet.The two outside contacts 40 and 46 are connected together and to one ofthe brushes of the armature of the motor, the other brush beingconnected to the contact 42, while the remaining contact 44 is connectedto the lead 20 from the field'coil of the motor. It will be seen thatwith the parts in the position illustrated in the drawing, the field andarmature of the motor are in series, and if the contact block 34 ismoved downward so that the contact 36 engages the contact 40 and thecontact 38 bridges the contacts 42 and 44, the connections to the motorarmature will be reversed so that a reversal of the direction ofrotation of the motor will occur.

The movement of the contact block 34 is effected by movement of theswitch armature 28 by means of a pin 48 on the armature and receivedwithin a slot 50 in the contact block, the construction being such thatupon application of the direct current to energize the armature to moveit, the armature will start easily, having no load, and will acquiresufficient momentum before the pin engages with the end of the slot toinsure actuation of the contact block. This is of advanta e since, owingto the shunt arrangement 0% the switch and motor circuits the directcurrent through the switch armature is necessarily light. The inductanceof the coils 28 on the switch armature is sufficiently high to preventthe passage of any appreciable alternating current therethrough, and anysuch current which does ass is ineffective to produce chattering ot theswitch armature because of the wide gap provided between the armaturepole and the inactive pole of the magnet.

The power circuit for the motor includes a suitable alternating currentsource, conveniently a toy transformer 51, which is connected by a lead52 with the third rail 6 and by a lead 54 through a switch 55, wire 56,a rheostat indicated generally at 57 and a wire 58 to one of thetraction rails 4. The switch 55, which is for the purpose of enablingthe apparatus to be used with either alternating or direct current forthe power circuit, will presently be described, has two stationarycontacts 60 which are normally connected by a movable bridge contact 61.

The rheostat 57 comprises two resistance coils 62 and 64, each of whichis connected to the wire 56 at one end, the coils being arranged uponthe arc of the circle for engagement by a movable contact arm 66 whichis connected to the wire 58. A suitablestop 68 is provided between thecoils to limit the movement of the contact arm in either direction. Itwill be seen that the alternating current leads to the rails 4 throughone or the other of the rheostat coils, depending upon the position ofthe contact arm 66, one of the coils serving to regulate the strength ofthe current for motion of the locomotive in one direction and the othercoil serving to regulate the current for movement of the locomotive inthe other direction.

The control circuit for operating the motor reversing switch 14 includesa direct current source which may conveniently con sist of one or twodry cells 67 connected by leads 68 and 70 to a control reversing switch71 whereby the controlling direct current may be sent through thereversing switch 14 in either direction, as desired. This control switch71 comprises five stationary contacts 72 and two movable bridge contacts7 4, which latter are mounted on a swinging contact block 76. As shownin the drawing, the lead 68 is connected to the central stationarycontact, and the lead 70 is connected to both of the outer stationarycontacts. One of the remaining contacts connects by a wire 80 to thelead 52 and the other by a wire 82 through contacts 84 and 86 of theswitch 55 to a wire 88 leading to a pair of stationary contacts 90 and92 which are arranged adjacent to the open ends of the rheostat coilsfor engagement with the arm 66. The engagement of the arm 66 with eitherof the contacts 90 or 92 closes the circuit from the direct currentsource to the rails 4 and 6 and causes energization of the polarizedswitch 14.

In order to reverse the direction of the direct current in the leads 80and 82, the contact block 67 is pivoted at 94 and is provided with twopins 96 adapted for selective engagement with the end of the contact arm66. With the parts in the positions shown in full lines in the drawings,if the contact arm is moved in a clockwise direction, the end of the armwill engage with the right-hand pin 96 and cause rotamoved in acounter-clockwise direction and has just reached the full line positionof the drawings, it will be seen that the contact arm has etl'ectedmovement of the reversing switch to reverse the direct currentconnections. Upon further movement of the contact arm to the left, itarrives at the position indicated at A for momentary engagement with thecontact 90. The control circuit is now closed and direct current flowsthrough the rails to the polarized switch 1 L causing movement of itsarmature and consequent reversal of the motor armature connections. Themotor being in parallel with the relay, a small amount of direct currentwill flow through the motor, but owing to the comparatively lowvoltageof the direct current source it has no appreciable effect on the motor.Continued movement of the contact arm to the left takes it out of.engagement with the.contact 90 and into engagement with the rheostatcoil 62, as indicated at position B in the drawing. The direct currentis thus cut off while alternating current now flows through theconnections,

as above described, and, owing to the reversal of motor connections,drives the locomotive in the opposite direction. The speed of thelocomotive may be varied by moving the contact arm over, the coil 62,the speed increasing as the arm is moved farther in a counter-clockwisedirection. By now moving the arm progressively in a clockwise di-'rection, the power current is first reduced and then cut off, the directcurrent connections are next reversed, the polarized switch is thenactuated, and the locomotive caused to start in a forward directionagain.

The purpose of the switch 55 is to provide for entire operation upondirect current. To this end the switch is merely. actuated toward theright or-clockwise so that the bridge 61 no longer connects between thetwo contacts 60, and the contact 84 engages with the left-hand one ofthe contacts 60, this position being illustrated in dotted lines in thedrawing. The direct current source .for this operation of the systemconsists preferably of a storage battery which is substituted for thedry cells 67 and is of sufficient voltage to run the motor. According tothese connections the current from the direct current source runsthrough the reversing switch to the lead 80 and third rail 6 on the onehand, and on the otherv hand through the wire 82, contacts 8& and 60,wire 56, coil 62 or 64, contact arm 66 and wire 58 to the rail 4.

At this time the stationary contact 86 of the switch 55 is dead, and thestationary contacts 90 and 92 are therefore disconnected from thecircuit. The operation of the polarized relay occurs upon engagement ofthe contact arm 66 with either one of the rheostat coils andsimultaneously with the closing of the motor circuit. The relay iscontinuously energized in parallel with the motor, regardless of theposition of the contact arm with relation to the rheostat coils. In thiscase, as with the use of alternating current for driving the motor, thespeed. of the locomotive is regulated by the position of the rheostatcontact arm with relation to one or the other of the coils, and thedirection of motion ofthe locomotive is controlled independently of thespeed and at the will of the operator by the automatic operation of thereversing switch as the contact arm is moved fromone coil to the other.

While in the illustrated embodiment of the present invention thealternating power current is cut off while the direct controllingcurrent is being applied, this is not essential nor is it necessary thatthe direct current be continuous, as shown.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A toy electric railway having, in combination, a locomotive,alternating and direct current sources, conductors connecting saidsources with the locomotive, a motor on the locomotive operated from oneof s'ai d sources, and means on the locomotive operated from the othersource for controlling the operation of the motor. 2. A toy electricrailway having, in combination, a locomotive, a lead and a returnconductor for the locomotive, alternating and direct current sourcesconnected with the conductors, a motor on the locomotive operated fromone of the sources, and means on the locomotive operated by the othersource for controlling the direction of travel of the locomotive. I

3. A toy electric railway having, in combination, a locomotive, a leadand a return conductor for the locomotive, a motor on the locomotive, analternating current source connected with the conductors for operatingthe motor, a direct current source connected with the conductors, andmeans on the locomotive operated by the direct current for controllingthe-direction of travel of 1 the 1 .by alternating current connectedwith the conductors for'operating the motor, a direct current circuitconnected with the conductors, a reversing switch in the direct currentcircuit, and means on the locomotive operated upon reversal of thedirect current for reversing the direction of travel of the locomotive.

5. A toy electric railway having, in combination, a lm-omotive, a leadand a return conductor for the locomotive, a motor on the locomotive, analternating current circuit connected with the conductors for operatingthe motor, a direct current circuit connected with the conductors, avreversing switch in the direct current circuit, a polarized switch onthe locomotive adapted to be actuated upon operation of the reversingswitch, and means for reversing the direction of rotation of the motorby the operation of the polarized switch.

6. A toy electric railway having, in combination, a locomotive, anelectric motor for the locomotive, a reversing device on the locomotivefor controlling the direction of travel of the locomotive, alternatingand direct current sources, one of which is adapted for driving themotor and the other for operating the reversing device, common currentconducting means connecting both sources with the locomotive, andstationary manually operated means for controlling the alternating anddirect currents.

7. 'A toy electric railway having, in combination, a locomotive, astationary conductor for carrying current to the locomotive, a track, aseries motor on the locomotive, a polarized switch on the locomotiveconnected in parallel with the .motor, a motor driving circuit adaptedfor connection with an alternating current source and 'connected betweenthe stationary conductor and the track, a direct current controllingcircuit connected between the stationary conductor and the track, meansfor reversing the direction of current in the controlling circuit tooperate the switch, and means for reversing the relative connections ofthe armature and field of the motor upon operation of the switch.

8. A toy electric railway having, in combination, a locomotive, a track,a stationary conductor, a series motor on the locomotive, a switch onthe locomotive connected in parallel with the motor and having provisionfor reversing the relative armature and field connections of the motor,an alternating current driving circuit connected between the track andthe stationary conductor, a pair of rheostat coils in the drivingcircuit for controlling the speed of the motor, one for one directionand theother for the other direction, a contact arm adapted forengagement with either of the rheostat coils, a direct current controlcircuit connected between the track and the stationary conductor, areversing switch in the control circuit, and means for operating thereversing switch upon shifting the rheostat arm from one coil toanother.

9. A toy electric railway having, in combination, a track, a stationaryconductor, a locomotive, a series motor on the locomotive, a polarizedswitch in parallel with the motor for reversing the relative armatureand field connections of the motor, a. driving circuit adapted to beenergized from the alternating current and connected between the trackand stationary conductor, a direct current control circuit for operatingthe switch conncctcd between the stationary vconductor and the track,and a single controller for the alternating and direct currentsoperating upon progressive movement in either direction, first to applythe direct current to control the polarized switch for operation of themotor in one direction or the other, according to the direction ofmovement of the controller, and then to apply the alternating current todrive the motor.

10. A toy electric railway having, in combination, a track havingtraction rails and a third rail insulated therefrom, a locomotive, aseries motor on the locomotive, a polarized switch in parallel with themotor, connections between the switch and the motor for reversing therelative field and armature connections of the motor upon operation ofthe. switch, a rheostat having two coils, a contact arm for the rheostatadapted for engagement with either of the coils, an alternating currentdriving circuit connected with the third rail and one of the traction Irails through the rheostat, a direct current control circuit foroperating the switch and connected between the third rail and one of thetraction ails, a reversing switch for the control circuit adapted to beengaged by the rheostat contact arm upon the shifting of the latter fromone of the coils to the other, and a contact adapted for momentaryengagement by the contact arm to close the control circuit to operatethe polarized switch before engagement of the contact arm with therheostat coil.

11. A toy electric railway having, in combination, a locomotive, a motoron the locomotive, a polarized switch in parallel with the motor, meansoperated by the switch for reversing the direction of travel of thelocomotive, stationary conductors leading to the locomotive, a directcurrent control circuit for operating 'the switch, and a second switchconnecting either the alternating current circuit or the direct currentcircuit with the conductors.

12. A toy electric railway having, in combination, a locomotive, a motoron the locomotive, a polarized switch in parallel with the motor, meansoperated by the switch for reversing the direction of rotation of theadapted to be engaged by the contact arm, a

reversing switch in the control circuit, and means actuated by thecontrol arm for operiting the reversing switch upon movement of thecontact arm from one rheostat coil to the other.

13. A toy electric railway having, in combination, a track havingtraction rails and a third rail insulated therefrom, a locomotive, amotor on the locomotive for driving the same, reversing means on thelocomotive for reversing the direction of travel ofthe locomotive, asource of'alternatingcurrent for driving the motor, a source of directcurrent for actuating the reversing means, and con- .nections' from saidsources to the traction and third rails.

14. A toy electric railway having, in com-.

' tion and third rails for controlling the motor and the reversingmeans, said devices having provision for connectlng with a source ofalternatlng current for driving the motor and comprising a switch forcutting 01? the aldriving the motor, a source of direct current foractuating the switch, and connections between said sources and thelocomotive.

16. A toy electric railway having, in combination, a locomotive, analternating current motor fordriving the same, a polarized switch inparallel with the motor for reversing the direction of travel of thelocomotive comprising a pivoted armature provided with an energizingcoil, a fixed magnet, a movable contact block and pin-and-slot lostmotion connections between the armature and the block, a source ofalternating current for driving the motor, a source of direct currentfor actuating the switch, and connections between the said sources andthe locomotive. r

17. The method of operating a to alternating power current to thecircuit to drive the motor and in imparting to said circuit a directcurrent to control the operation of the motor.

18. The method of operating a toy electric railway which consists inapplying an alternating power current to the circuit to drive the motorand in imparting to said circuit a direct current of predetermineddirection to cause the motor to. operate in a predetermined direction ofrotation.

19. The method of operating a toy electric railway which consists inapplying an alternating power current to the circuit to drive the motorand in imparting to said circuit momentarily a direct current to reversethe direction of rotation of the motor.

v 20. The method of operating a toy electric railway which consists inapplying an alternating power current to the circuit to drive the motor,cutting off the alternating power current, imparting to the circuitmomentarily a direct controlling current to shift the motor connectionsfor reverse rotation, and reestablishing the alternating power current.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

' HARRY E. MORTON.

a I n o tric rallway whlch consists in applying an

